Remote control? How to organize work in Corona times and what we can learn from Open Source communities FrOSCon, August 23, 2020 Jutta Horstmann . eyeo . Chief Operating Officer (COO)
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Remote collaboration in Open Source communities Remote in companies similarities and differences Examples from a hybrid approach - pre-Corona How to organize remote work in a global pandemic 2
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Remote collaboration in Open Source communities
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Developing software as an Open Source project requires the ability to involve any contributor irrespective of their → location, → timezone, → or working hours. 4
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▪ Asynchronous ▪ Written ▪ Volunteers ▪ Tooling for collaboration and communication ▪ Yearly conferences ▪ Regular local user groups 5
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“Doing remote” in companies
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Varieties of remote work Distributed vs. Dispersed 7
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Varieties of remote work Fully remote vs. Sometimes 8
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Varieties of remote work Settlers vs. Digital Nomads 9
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Varieties of remote work Fully-remote Remote-first Remote-friendly Remote by default Hybrid 10
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Cool Best talent Diversity Family-friendly Inclusive Eco-friendly 11
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Cool Best talent Sucks Remote to the team Diversity Timezones Family-friendly Crappy connection Inclusive Conference calls Eco-friendly Loneliness 12
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▢ Global talent pool Why remote ▢ Lower salaries ▢ Mergers and acquisitions ▢ Closer to customers ▢ Diverse teams ▢ Happy workforce 13
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Remote Strategy 14
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Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 15
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Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 16
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Remote Strategy Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 17
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Remote Strategy ▢ Hiring strategy ▢ Onboarding strategy ▢ Education and training ▢ Communication policies ▢ Team building ▢ Tooling ( → Privacy!) ▢ Remote facilitation ▢ Workplace experience 18
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Remote strategy of Open Source communities ▢ Hiring strategy → Worldwide ▢ Onboarding strategy → RTFM ▢ Education and training → Code review, code sprints ▢ Communication policies ▢ Team building → Netiquette, Code of Conduct ▢ Tooling ( → Privacy!) → Conferences, User groups ▢ Remote facilitation → Git{Hub,Lab}, mailing lists… → Async communication 19
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Examples from a hybrid approach pre-Corona
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eyeo… Who?
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Open source Most popular browser extension worldwide #1 ad blocker 22
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We create a AUTHORITIES sustainable and fair ecosystem by building, monetizing and distributing USERS ADVERTISERS ad blocking technologies for everyone and everything online. PUBLISHERS SOLUTIONS 23
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44% Cologne 39% Remote 13% Berlin 4% Malmö 100% Home Office 24
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Remote at eyeo - “Open Source heritage” ▪ Public asynchronous written communication ▪ Public documentation ▪ Public work tracking ▪ Individual working hours ▪ Free choice of topics to work on 25
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Clash of cultures - Building a for-profit business on an Open Source project ▪ Public tooling vs Business confidentiality ▪ Long waiting times vs Agile flow ▪ Individualism vs Team work 26
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eyeo’s Remote Strategy Remote Fitness Tooling Workplace experience Trust building 27
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Remote Fitness 28
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Tooling 29
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Trust Building 30
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Workplace Experience 31
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How to organize remote work in a global pandemic
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What happened ▪ End of Feb: 1st encounter with infected person ▪ March 7: Closing Cologne office ▪ March 14: Closing all offices; Travel ban ▪ Lockdowns and curfews ▪ Schools and kindergartens closed ▪ 12 people quarantined, 3 positive ▪ All in-person company and team events canceled 33
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Crisis management Goal:
- Set up Corona Task Force Keep everybody safe
- Set up communication and information channels Keep productivity up
- Set everybody up for “new normal” 4. Create emergency plans 5. Learn & improve 34
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Communication ▪ Mailings ▪ Intranet: Weekly updates ▪ Corona News Hub ▪ FAQ ▪ #coronavirus Channel ▪ AllHands presentations 35
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Set everybody up for “new normal” ▪ 2 Corona Community days ▪ Get equipment from the offices ▪ 100€ extra office allowance ▪ Ensure tools’ scalability ▪ Corona Family Care 36
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Improve tooling ▪ Video call: More connections ▪ Ensure scalability and stability ▪ 24/7 helpdesk ▪ Better chat tool: Mattermost ▪ Whiteboard / flipchart tool: Mural ▪ Games ▪ Security & Privacy! 37
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Ensure team collaboration ▪ Daily in-person standups ▪ Team agreements ▪ Remote facilitation trainings ▪ Remote team days 38
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Keep us together as a company ▪ #coronavirus channel ▪ Blogs ▪ Always-on video call ▪ Virtual drinks ▪ Online lunches / games ▪ Cross-company “Summer week” ▪ Cross-company “Hackathon” ▪ “Happy Hour” for serendipity 39
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Vacation / Staycation 40
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eyeo Corona mood curve We can do it! We’re all in this together! ? Set us up properly Home schooling Video call fatigue Isolation Pandemic! Stay at home! Getting used to it Adapting 42
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Aren’t we there yet…? ▪ Lock down ▪ Curfew ▪ Kids at home ▪ Caring for parents ▪ Trying to achieve goals ▪ Covering for colleagues 43
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Mental Health Support ▪ Online Yoga - twice/week ▪ Online meditation - daily ▪ Leadership trainings ▪ InstaHelp & therapist ▪ Keep 2019 vacation days ▪ Descoping & de-parallelizing ▪ Re-opening the offices? 45
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Office Re-Entry? ▪ Re-Entry Plan - since April ▪ Involve Medical and Workplace Security advisor ▪ Innovation Jam project 46
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What’s next? ▪ Aug: In-person Team Days pilot ▪ Sep: Corona Office Re-Entry? ▪ Sep: Influenza vaccinations ▪ Oct: Remote Ad Blocker Dev Summit ▪ Oct: Next cross-company remote event? ▪ Dec: Christmas party - in person? 47
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Old normal COVID-19 times Video calls: 150 people in same call Video calls: 150 people in same call Onboarding: 2 weeks in Cologne Remote onboarding eyeo lunch crew Remote lunch time together After hour beer on the office terrace Virtual drinks Meet at the coffee machine Always-on video call; Random chat-roulette Flipcharts and whiteboards Mural: Virtual whiteboards, post-its… Summer week June Remote Event Hackathon Remote Hackathon and Innovation Jam Yoga in the offices Online Yoga Board game night Lunch games - Jackbox, Drawful… 48
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Take-Aways
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Take-Away #1 Working remotely under normal circumstances is different from during a pandemic.
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Take-Away #2 Be approachable. Share your stories. Stay kind.
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Take-Away #3 Nothing beats an in-person encounter.
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Thank you. Questions? Find me on Twitter: @smphr LinkedIn: jhorstmann Mail: j.horstmann@eyeo.com 53
